WToCycling 1 - Everything Thread: The Lusavik Struggle

[Free Swiss States]

Just edited my original post with my team info. I'd also like to propose a one-day stage:

SINGLE DAY RACE SHEET

Name: The Lusavik Struggle
Nation: Free Swiss States
Type (dirt, hill, mountains, sprint or TT): mountains
Starting point: Basil (lowland port city)
Finishing point: Lusavik (highland city)
Amount of kilometres: 115
Description of obstacles (hills, dirt type, mountains, ..): Heavy Mountain Stage

Kilometers 1-43: Riders follow a seaside road which remains flat with no sharp turns. A typical concern here is the weather which at least weekly brings in rolling storm clouds and heavy winds. For the most part, however, the route remains pleasant and cool.



Kilometers 43-48: Riders will enter the port city of Avignon and follow a coastal route bordering the harbor. Streets will be cleared to make way for the athletes.



Kilometers 48-65: As riders leave Avignon the angle of elevation will slowly begin to increase as they enter the highlands. There is a slight incline during this part during which riders will climb an altitude of roughly 900 meters.



Kilometers 65-73: Riders hit a very tough climb as they must climb 1,800 meters in just approximately eight kilometers. There are also three hairpin turns, known colloquially as the "Three Sisters," which can be disastrous.



Kilometers 73-80: Riders get a short break from the grueling climb for a downhill section, approximately 250 meters of height over the course of seven kilometers. The path is however extremely curvy, featuring just over a dozen sheer turns which are a strong limitation on direct speed.



Kilometers 80-97: The direct ascent up the side of Mt. Zenouille. The ascent is for the most part straight, except for one sheer turn around KM 82. Riders will climb roughly 2,900 meters over 17 kilometers. An incredibly tough ascent, easily definable as Hors catégorie due to both steepness and duration.



Kilometers 97-105: Riders will now hit almost entirely flat elevation for a stretch. Due to the high altitude athletes will have to deal with traditional issues of oxygen depletion as well as the cold air. During this stretch riders will pass through the famous Aufeldast Tunnel which lasts for roughly half a kilometer.



Kilometers 105-114: Riders will hit a straightaway, downhill elevation section. During this stretch riders will descend nearly 1,400 meters over the course of 9 kilometers. Cyclists have nicknamed this stage "The Forget" due to the high portion of athletes who, despite falling behind during the climb, are able to reassert themselves over this stretch. As Kilometer 114 approaches athletes will ride into the highland city of Lusavik.



Final Kilometer: Athletes will ride straight down from the northwest into the heart of the city. Streets will be cordoned off to make way for the riders. The riders will have a straight shot along Main Street until they reach the the pier at the Lusavik Harbor, from which they will have a beautiful view of Lake Gordon, as well as the Lusavik Dock which juts out onto it.



Nickname of the race: The Lusavik Laceration
Organizer of the race: Jonah Nizzy
Trophy handed out: The Alpe du Zenouille Cup
Number of editions so far: 1st

[The Kytler Peninsulae]

Team   Name: EastWest Energy
       Nation: The Kytler Peninsulae
       Business of sponsor: Uranium mining and electricity
       Name of team director: Parogam Prorim
       Colours of jersey: Black and yellow

Rider 1  Name: Pieter-Jan Van Der Capellen
         Age : 28
         Young rider (yes or no)      : no
         Climb       (between 1 and 9): 6 
         Hill        (between 1 and 9): 5
         TT          (between 1 and 9): 8
         Sprint      (between 1 and 9): 1
         Dirt        (between 1 and 9): 1
         Attacks     (between 0 and 5): 1
         Flat        (between 0 and 3): 3
         Persistence (between 0 and 3): 3
         Helping     (0, 2 or 4)      : 0
           if 2 or 4, this rider helps:
                       on this terrain:
           if 4, this rider also helps:
                       on this terrain:
         Total of values assigned     : 28

Besides having the longest name in world cycling, "VDC" is a top time trialist who won't get dropped on the flat, can mix it in the mountains, and never gives up. 
In short, he's a GC contender, vulnerable mainly on technical stages. 
Journalists the world over hope he fails to deliver just so they don't have to type out that name too often.

Rider 2  Name: Ben Croker
         Age : 27
         Young rider (yes or no)      : no
         Climb       (between 1 and 9): 9
         Hill        (between 1 and 9): 7
         TT          (between 1 and 9): 3
         Sprint      (between 1 and 9): 1
         Dirt        (between 1 and 9): 1
         Attacks     (between 0 and 5): 1
         Flat        (between 0 and 3): 1
         Persistence (between 0 and 3): 2
         Helping     (0, 2 or 4)      : 2
           if 2 or 4, this rider helps: Pieter-Jan Van Der Capellen
                       on this terrain: Climb
           if 4, this rider also helps:
                       on this terrain:
         Total of values assigned     : 27

Mountain goat supreme, Croker is going to be a domestique in stage races.
However, he will probably have a crack at his own glory in any mountain one-offs.

Rider 3  Name: Phootid Menburid
         Age : 21
         Young rider (yes or no)      : yes
         Climb       (between 1 and 9): 1
         Hill        (between 1 and 9): 3
         TT          (between 1 and 9): 7
         Sprint      (between 1 and 9): 7
         Dirt        (between 1 and 9): 1
         Attacks     (between 0 and 5): 5
         Flat        (between 0 and 3): 2
         Persistence (between 0 and 3): 0
         Helping     (0, 2 or 4)      : 0
           if 2 or 4, this rider helps:
                       on this terrain:
           if 4, this rider also helps:
                       on this terrain:
         Total of values assigned     : 26

An exuberant young rider of Vephra origin, Menburid initially showed promise in the velodrome.
He was sought out by EastWest in the hope that he'll launch attacks that will bring their brand to the front in those camera shots of the breakaway. 
He'll also compete well in TTs and flat sprints.

Rider 4  Name: André Piel
         Age : 26
         Young rider (yes or no)      : no
         Climb       (between 1 and 9): 7
         Hill        (between 1 and 9): 7
         TT          (between 1 and 9): 1
         Sprint      (between 1 and 9): 1
         Dirt        (between 1 and 9): 2
         Attacks     (between 0 and 5): 1
         Flat        (between 0 and 3): 1
         Persistence (between 0 and 3): 3
         Helping     (0, 2 or 4)      : 4
           if 2 or 4, this rider helps: Pieter-Jan Van Der Capellen
                       on this terrain: Climb
           if 4, this rider also helps: Pieter-Jan Van Der Capellen
                       on this terrain: Hill
         Total of values assigned     : 27

Stubborn domestique, little more needs to be said.

Rider 5  Name: Peter Coates
         Age : 28
         Young rider (yes or no)      : no
         Climb       (between 1 and 9): 6
         Hill        (between 1 and 9): 5
         TT          (between 1 and 9): 3
         Sprint      (between 1 and 9): 1
         Dirt        (between 1 and 9): 8
         Attacks     (between 0 and 5): 0
         Flat        (between 0 and 3): 0
         Persistence (between 0 and 3): 1
         Helping     (0, 2 or 4)      : 0
           if 2 or 4, this rider helps:
                       on this terrain:
           if 4, this rider also helps:
                       on this terrain:
         Total of values assigned     : 24

The former Kytlerian mountain bike champion is attempting to establish himself on the tarmac. 
His bike handling skills aren't in question, and he's a capable climber, but his endurance is arguably in question. 
He'll probably be given a shot in races with bad terrain.

Rider 6  Name: Blake Bennett
         Age : 19
         Young rider (yes or no)      : yes
         Climb       (between 1 and 9): 4
         Hill        (between 1 and 9): 5
         TT          (between 1 and 9): 5
         Sprint      (between 1 and 9): 4
         Dirt        (between 1 and 9): 1
         Attacks     (between 0 and 5): 2
         Flat        (between 0 and 3): 2
         Persistence (between 0 and 3): 1
         Helping     (0, 2 or 4)      : 0
           if 2 or 4, this rider helps:
                       on this terrain:
           if 4, this rider also helps:
                       on this terrain:
         Total of values assigned     : 24


Bennett, a first-year student at the University of Zube, is in the team mainly so he can train with the best and perhaps eventually become the best. 
He is studying Sports Science at the university's internationally renowned Margaret Institute of Sport Studies.
His contacts there help maintain the team's supply of the legal performance-enhancing drugs RP-inin and Verbosita.

TOTAL OF ALL RIDERS 156

Since the initial post, Menburid's points have been corrected, and one point taken off André Piel and allocated to Menburid. (The two now have 26 and 27 points, not 25 and 28.)

Name: The Kytlerian Big Weekend Cycling Tour
Nation: The Kytler Peninsulae
Nickname of the race: The Big Weekend
Organizer of the race: Peninsular Pedal Passion LLP, a partnership formed from a consortium of several Kytlerian businesses and some state governments specifically for the purpose of organising this race
Trophy handed out: The Golden Wheel, which is what it says it is.
Number of editions so far: 4
Colour of the leaders jersey: yellow
Colour of the points classification jersey: green
(OOC: As much as I wanted to avoid this, they *are* my national colours...)

Info on first stage
Type (dirt, hill, mountains, sprint or TT): hill
Starting point: Edencliff - a coastal town and substantial port that, like several along the long Kytlerian coastline, has experienced substantial change since the illegal drug trade became stamped out by the law enforcement efforts of other Rushmori nations. Its modern-day image is as the country's greenest large town, although there is continued concern over the recreational use of the legal performance-enhancing drug Verbosita, which have led to schools reporting exceptional literacy test results but significant concerns over classroom behaviour.
Finishing point: Ranford - another coastal town, this one known as a cosy coastal resort. The route goes through neighbouring Willsbrook immediately beforehand - the two are essentially one conurbation, though Ranford is more raucous and youthful, whilst Willsbrook is more sedate with a large retired population. (UK people; think Brighton and Hove, but quite a lot smaller.)
Amount of kilometres: 186.6
Description of obstacles (hills, dirt type, mountains, ..): Almost the entire route is pockmarked with category 3/4 climbs, and at around the 120km mark there is a short category 2 climb (Churling Pike) that ascends 264m in just 2.5km and is followed by a highly technical descent. The route only descends to sea level again in the final 10km, with a tightly twisting 7km descent into and through the hilly suburbs of Willsbrook, then into central Willsbrook's cobbled main shopping street and then to the seafront.
Description of last kilometre: From 2km out, it's flat and straight with the sea to the right and picturesque buildings, most of which were constructed by some of the first European settlers on Kytlerian soil around 100 years ago in a sometimes overly-ornate mock-Georgian style, to the left. Then the route turns off the promenade, and ascends 29m in the final 400m sprint to the finish at the historic St Margaret's Church.
(OOC: I wasn't initially sure how to classify this stage, whether it was hill or sprint. But having looked at the post about the scorinator, it makes sense to scorinate it as a low difficulty hill stage. Is there a way of adding hill ability in some small way into the sprint? That would seem appropriate for an uphill sprint finish, accounting for the difference between (say) a Mark Cavendish and a Robbie McEwen.)

Info on second stage
Type (dirt, hill, mountains, sprint or TT): TT
Starting point: Zube - the Kytlerian capital (but only its third-largest city), purpose-built with glass-and-steel buildings everywhere. Immediately obvious on television will be the very light colour of the roads, and every building has either a rooftop garden or (more usually) a light grey or white roof - aerial shots will capture why Zube is sometimes called "Snowflake City." The stage begins inside Zube National Stadium, and a specially-constructed temporary ramp will carry riders through a gap in the iconic pillars at one end of the stadium.
Finishing point: Kytler Bay City - the largest city in the country, with just over a million people. Which may not sound much, but it's almost 11% of the national population! The finish line is located next to the new international ferry terminal, built on the site of the notorious Lizotti Dock with its reputation as the centrepiece of the illegal drugs trade that once dominated the city.
Amount of kilometres: 72.1
Description of obstacles (hills, dirt type, mountains, ..): Primarily flat and not very technical, but with a notable exception around Aardswood about 20km from the finish. A 4km section of the course ascends 137m, initially through hilly suburbs, then more steeply through forest and then exposed chalk cliffs. Then there is a long descent along a twisting clifftop road leading to suburban Bay City. This sector could significantly affect the outcome. Before that, the most notable landmark is the Cluitt Bridge, a 6.4km road bridge over the Sharke Inlet to the south-west of Zube. Yes, there are sharks occasionally. Don't worry, they can't eat the bridge.
Description of last kilometre: Essentially flat, but with two roundabouts and several other corners to navigate as the course winds its way along the waterfront.

Info on third stage
Type (dirt, hill, mountains, sprint or TT): sprint
Starting point: Bravin, a small but growing town in the south-east dominated by a large military base. Indeed, the opening kilometre circumnavigates the Bravin Barracks.
Finishing point: Santa Mordana, the capital of the south-west and of the country's Hispanic population (who are small but face little discrimination - the country is pockmarked by settlers from all over Europe), and a large dock city. The ferry link with Carmina on the northern peninsula is one of the busiest domestic ferry links in Rushmore, with over 9,000 sailings a year.
Amount of kilometres: 190.3
Description of obstacles (hills, dirt type, mountains, ..): The first 35km are hilly (with three category 3 or 4 climbs heading west out of Bravin) but not mountainous, and then there is absolutely nothing to stop this becoming a bunch sprint by the bay, as the course mostly heads along the south coast after legislators in the famously conservative state of Varn - which would normally have been expected to provide most of the toughest hills of the course - refused to provide funding.
Description of last kilometre: The first few hundred metres are downhill from the shopping district to the waterside, then it's a flat and gently curving dockside finish.

Since the initial post, stage 3 has been changed from a mountain to a sprint stage, ICly because of local concerns over the erosion of the Endor Mountain Pass that was to form the finish, but OOCly to provide more balance in the submission vis-á-vis the other proposals.

[Wray]

Team   Name: Team CeltaDirect 
       Nation: Wray
       Business of sponsor: Telecommunications
       Name of team director: Adrian Cook
       Colours of jersey: Green with white trim

Rider 1  Name: Brendon Kean
         Age : 24
         Young rider (yes or no)      : No
         Climb       (between 1 and 9): 5
         Hill        (between 1 and 9): 5
         TT          (between 1 and 9): 3
         Sprint      (between 1 and 9): 1
         Dirt        (between 1 and 9): 4
         Attacks     (between 0 and 5): 2
         Flat        (between 0 and 3): 2
         Persistence (between 0 and 3): 3
         Helping     (0, 2 or 4)      : 2
           if 2 or 4, this rider helps: Robert Moore
                       on this terrain: Climb
           if 4, this rider also helps:
                       on this terrain:
         Total of values assigned     : 27

Rider 2  Name: Robert Moore
         Age : 20
         Young rider (yes or no)      : Yes
         Climb       (between 1 and 9): 2
         Hill        (between 1 and 9): 3
         TT          (between 1 and 9): 7
         Sprint      (between 1 and 9): 6
         Dirt        (between 1 and 9): 2
         Attacks     (between 0 and 5): 1
         Flat        (between 0 and 3): 2
         Persistence (between 0 and 3): 2
         Helping     (0, 2 or 4)      : 0
           if 2 or 4, this rider helps:
                       on this terrain:
           if 4, this rider also helps:
                       on this terrain:
         Total of values assigned     : 25

Rider 3  Name: Wilson Hardwick
         Age : 23
         Young rider (yes or no)      : No
         Climb       (between 1 and 9): 7
         Hill        (between 1 and 9): 8
         TT          (between 1 and 9): 2
         Sprint      (between 1 and 9): 2
         Dirt        (between 1 and 9): 3
         Attacks     (between 0 and 5): 2
         Flat        (between 0 and 3): 1
         Persistence (between 0 and 3): 1
         Helping     (0, 2 or 4)      : 2
           if 2 or 4, this rider helps: Robert Moore
                       on this terrain: Flat
           if 4, this rider also helps:
                       on this terrain:
         Total of values assigned     : 28

Rider 4  Name: Ross Parker-Langley
         Age : 19
         Young rider (yes or no)      : Yes
         Climb       (between 1 and 9): 3
         Hill        (between 1 and 9): 3
         TT          (between 1 and 9): 5
         Sprint      (between 1 and 9): 6
         Dirt        (between 1 and 9): 1
         Attacks     (between 0 and 5): 3
         Flat        (between 0 and 3): 1
         Persistence (between 0 and 3): 0
         Helping     (0, 2 or 4)      : 2
           if 2 or 4, this rider helps: Brenan Kean
                       on this terrain: Sprints
           if 4, this rider also helps:
                       on this terrain:
         Total of values assigned     : 24

Rider 5  Name: Cooper Kleneghan 
         Age : 25
         Young rider (yes or no)      : No
         Climb       (between 1 and 9): 4 
         Hill        (between 1 and 9): 5
         TT          (between 1 and 9): 4
         Sprint      (between 1 and 9): 1
         Dirt        (between 1 and 9): 5
         Attacks     (between 0 and 5): 2
         Flat        (between 0 and 3): 3
         Persistence (between 0 and 3): 3
         Helping     (0, 2 or 4)      : 0
           if 2 or 4, this rider helps:
                       on this terrain:
           if 4, this rider also helps:
                       on this terrain:
         Total of values assigned     : 27

Rider 6  Name: Will Maxwell
         Age : 31
         Young rider (yes or no)      : No
         Climb       (between 1 and 9): 1
         Hill        (between 1 and 9): 2
         TT          (between 1 and 9): 9
         Sprint      (between 1 and 9): 9
         Dirt        (between 1 and 9): 1
         Attacks     (between 0 and 5): 2
         Flat        (between 0 and 3): 2
         Persistence (between 0 and 3): 1
         Helping     (0, 2 or 4)      : 0
           if 2 or 4, this rider helps:
                       on this terrain:
           if 4, this rider also helps:
                       on this terrain:
         Total of values assigned     : 27

Before finishing this sheet, please check whether the following rules have been applied. 
If such is not the case, you will receive a TG with the question to update your participation sheet. 
Until it meets with the requirements, it will not be accepted as a team in the World Tour of Cycling.

* No rider has a total of values below 24.
* No rider has a total of values above 28.
* Your team contains six riders, no less, no more.
* The total of values for the six riders is no more than 156.
* The first four riders will be your “main team”. You can bring in the two replacements before every race.
* The riders named ‘young rider’ have a total of values of no more than 26.
* Within the help-value, "this rider helps" indicates the need for a name, while "on this terrain" asks for a surface. Ex. racer X (Stert Geegmans) helps racer Y (Cark Mavendish) in the sprints.

Team for 1st Stage:
Brendon Kean (C)
Ross Parker-Langley
Robert Moore
Wilson Hardwick

Slith edit made to correct points for Wilson Hardwick

[Some Village]

A warm welcome to Wray and Kytler Peninsulae.

Short heads-up:
Sign-ups to close in 23 hours. There are three spots left on the slate.
A current overview of the types of races in the submitted proposals is...

Dirt: 1
Hill: 1 + 3 stages
Mountain: 2 + 5 stages
TT: 3 stages
Sprint: 1 stage

I hope everyone understands that a bit of balance in the calendar is preferable. No need for even numbers on all types, but each rider should get his/her chances. So on one hand, the proposals that will/might be cut are likely to be situated in uphill regions while on the other hand, the Island Tour will reposition its focus to the flat-race-type-guys. (and I've received word of a proposal that might replace the Island Tour, not sure how far it is). Either way, there is still 23 hours to create new proposals or adapt them.

[Commune-PDTv2]

The Commune-Apox Grand Tour is a 5-stage event competed between Mogd-Syrdusha and Dwile, the Capital Cities of the two neighbouring Esportivan nations.

Name: The Commune-Apox Grand Tour

Nation: Commune-Pdtv2/Apox

Organizer of the race: The race is organised as a joint venture between the tourist offices of both the Glorious Commune and Apox in the hopes of healing some of the ill feelings between the nations following the Esportivan War. Despite no shots being fired between the two nations, a cold war scenario occurred at the border with neither side wishing to make the first move. Despite the war being now several pages in the history books, diplomatic relations between the two countries has not yet fully healed. The hope is that the staging of this race will build bridges not only between the Commune and Apox, but with other countries throughout the multiverse.

Trophies handed out:

The Trophy on the left is that of the overall race winner. On the right, the points classification winner.

Number of editions so far:
This will be the first edition of the race.

Colour of the leaders jerseys:

Stage info to follow

Info on first stage
Type (dirt, hill, mountains, sprint or TT):
Starting point:
Finishing point:
Amount of kilometres:
Description of obstacles (hills, dirt type, mountains, ..):
Description of last kilometre:

Info on second stage
Type (dirt, hill, mountains, sprint or TT):
Starting point:
Finishing point:
Amount of kilometres:
Description of obstacles (hills, dirt type, mountains, ..):
Description of last kilometre:

Info on third stage
Type (dirt, hill, mountains, sprint or TT):
Starting point:
Finishing point:
Amount of kilometres:
Description of obstacles (hills, dirt type, mountains, ..):
Description of last kilometre:

Info on fourth stage
Type (dirt, hill, mountains, sprint or TT):
Starting point:
Finishing point:
Amount of kilometres:
Description of obstacles (hills, dirt type, mountains, ..):
Description of last kilometre:

Info on fifth stage
Type (dirt, hill, mountains, sprint or TT):
Starting point:
Finishing point:
Amount of kilometres:
Description of obstacles (hills, dirt type, mountains, ..):
Description of last kilometre:

[Zwangzug]

I think I'll pass on the stage submission and leave that to some people who seem to know more of what they're doing, this time around. My sixth rider (Cier-Rubing) should be labeled "young," I think?

Thanks!

[Some Village]

I think I'll pass on the stage submission and leave that to some people who seem to know more of what they're doing, this time around. My sixth rider (Cier-Rubing) should be labeled "young," I think?

Thanks!

Oops, fixed! Not that used to the paperwork yet
Don't hesitate to signal further mistakes, being it by TG or through this thread.

I've been inputting the rider values and a few minor mistakes have been made.
> Serbian Empire: please check the dirt-value of Bledar Ahmedsovic. It cannot be zero, it must be at least one, which would make your total of values to high, so you'll have to control and adapt it.
> The IOM: I didn't forbid it (my mistake) but giving help in a time trial is quite... Unusual. You might want to change that.
> Kytler: it seems as if there was a small calculation mistake with Phootid Menburid. His skill total is 28 atm, not 25.
> Wray: it seems as if there was a small calculation mistake with Wilson Hardwick. His skill total is 28 atm, not 26.

[Fristat and Marianopolis]

Team sign-up.

Team Name: Team GHEK (under-23 team)
Nation: Fristat and Marianopolis
Business of sponsors: Fristatian Regional Government
Directeur Sportif: Jiri Fridrich
Colours of jersey: Green and blue with white cross

Niklas Ackermann - Mytannion (total 26) - Age 23. Young Rider.
CL 9 HL 7 TT 1 SP 1 DT 1 AT 2 FL 2 PE 3
Helping: 0

Jarend Guttorm - Fristat and Marianopolis (total 26) - Age 23. Young Rider.
CL 7 HL 5 TT 4 SP 3 DT 1 AT 1 FL 2 PE 3
Helping: 0

Didrik Lindhjem - Fristat and Marianopolis (total 26) - Age 22. Young Rider.
CL 4 HL 6 TT 1 SP 3 DT 3 AT 1 FL 2 PE 2
Helping: 4 (SP, DT; Niklas Ackermann)

Milan Grpek - Mytannion (total 26) - Age 22. Young Rider.
CL 2 HL 4 TT 2 SP 9 DT 1 AT 1 FL 3 PE 2
Helping: 2 (SP, Jarend Guttorm)

Christophe Bossé - Fristat and Marianopolis (total 26) - Age 21. Young Rider.
CL 1 HL 1 TT 1 SP 4 DT 9 AT 5 FL 3 PE 2
Helping: 0

Oli Brasseur - Fristat and Marianopolis (total 26) - Age 20. Young Rider.
CL 4 HL 4 TT 6 SP 2 DT 2 AT 3 FL 2 PE 3
Helping: 0

Team Total: 156

---

Race sign-up.

Name: Union Individual Time Trial
Nation: Fristat and Marianopolis
Type: Time Trial
Starting Point: Union
End Point: Union
Length: 24km
Organiser: Fristatian Regional Government
Trophy: Medal and laurel wreath
Edition: 1st

Description: This is a time trial through the streets of the capital of Fristat and Marianopolis, Union. Fristat and Marianopolis is a nation made-up of Mytanar and Cotdelapomais settlers and the capital reflects this. The streets are a cultural melting pot and will provide a technical time trial along a fairly flat course which presents the riders with twists and turns aplenty. It presents a challenging effort for the riders as they will need to be at their best in their bikehandling when they attempt to steer their way through some of the narrower streets and in some of the sweeping corners and roundabouts which are found in Union, a city that was set-up with a lot of thought going to the planning of the layout to make sure it's a neat capital city. It was purpose built to be the legislative capital of the whole nation and built in a sustainable manner, although the people will be sure to heckle any riders which are not Mytanar, Fristatian or Marian as they root for their own very heavily - although normally they welcome people of all cultures. In cycling, the Fristatians are fiercely passionate, with them being of Mytanar descent and loving the sport. The Marians are slowly coming around to it as the people of Cotdelapomais descent begin to like the sport a little more and they begin to produce some decent riders (particularly Bossé and Brasseur, the latter being a big hope for this particular race and also a future GC contender in the Grand Tours). The race will pass by the main government building in Union after the 7km mark before sweeping right along the river running through the capital, passing the Fristatian Cultural Museum and the growing Nida Art Gallery, housing some of the best contemporary art pieces in all of Rushmore after 16km. It will then turn left past the Marian brewing company Marleau, with its growing popularity also meaning it will be a major sponsor of this race. It will then head back towards the city hall, in the centre of town, where a slightly uphill section will greet the riders in the last kilometre.
Last KM: The last kilometre will be uphill, but only slightly so - it will still present a challenge after 23km of time trialling and is perhaps the place where the splits will happen. The finish line is the gates of the city hall and selected dignitaries and cycling fans alike will greet the victor here.

[The Kytler Peninsulae]

Post edited to reflect small changes.

[Wray]

Entering a One-Day TT

Name: The Gosforth-Brent Time Trial
Nation: Wray
Type (dirt, hill, mountains, sprint or TT): Time Trial
Starting point: Haverlock Street, Gosport
Finishing point: Brent High Street
Amount of kilometres: 65km
Description of obstacles (hills, dirt type, mountains, ..): The opening 29km of the course are a mixture of up-and-down hills and long open fields, along single-laned country roads. As the race snakes inland, the hills decrease the race pans out into a shuffle through dense trees and lakes, ending in the idyllic forest village of Brent, the last 3km being on the 719A (second-tier road)
Description of last kilometre: The kilometre starts in the thick forest of Brent Lake National Park, but soon thins out as you come to a T-Junction, and the last sprint comes into the village.
Nickname of the race: GBTT
Organizer of the race: Northwest Regional Council, CeltaDirect Telecoms 
Trophy handed out: GBTT Trophy + P259,000
Number of editions so far: 4 (usually domestic cycling race)

[Some Village]

Post edited to reflect small changes.

Thank you for that, that is greatly appreciated. Same remark goes to the IOM.

And suddenly... it rains TTs

[Some Village]

And this ends the sign-ups (a bit late, my apologies). I dare to say that 13 sign-ups was the amount the WToC was dreaming of. I hope that this will be the start of an amusing RP for all of you. The first post will be adapted in order to hold the participants, races, rules and scores.

When it comes upon the calendar, I must say that it was hard for me to determine which ones would be in and which ones not. Each proposal carried good reasons to keep it in. Bits and bytes of calculation learned that we had five one-day race proposals, five three-stage race proposals and one five-stage race proposals. The details of the IOM event and the Apox-Paradystopia event aren't up yet, but what I've heard/read/seen of it so far is very promising. [emotional bit]Along comes a small confession. I'm awful in choosing, especially between bids that seemed equally good. Every time I attempted to scratch one, it made my heart was bleeding. More correctly, my heart yelled to me "no! don't do it". My heart is unaware of the existance of capital letters. This myriad of dilemma's brought me to the point where I said, screw it, let's just try it like this. With "like this" meaning: with all of the races in it.[/emotional bit]

One small change has been made, however. I've decided to omit the Union Individual TT. Nothing against the proposal or Fristat & Marianopolis (at all), but it did unbalance the numbers a bit too much. And when choosing between both TTs, I had a good reason to omit this one, because...
On the other hand, there will be the following additions: a sprint single-day race (as there are no proposals upon this yet) and a single-day dirt race (as dirt is very undervaluated at the moment). F&M (the Union TT could more easily be turned into a sprint race, with several laps over the course), Zwangzug and Serbian Empire are given the first chance to fill those with a race. If they have a proposal, they can TG it to me. If they aren't filled, I'll open proposals to all teams involved after the first race. If they don't get filled, I'll come up with a good IC reason why they have been cancelled.
Both the IOM Tour and the Commune-Apox Grand Tour are currently in the calendar under provisional terms. If updates to their proposal aren't made soon, they will be removed.

Some might say, and the Island Tour, what about that? A fair question. I've decided to drop the Island Tour for the WToC but bring it back in July/August as a pre-olympic race. There is a major chance that the first season of the WToC will be done before the Olympics (seeing that the host bids only will be up next week-ish) but I suppose that we will not be able to have a second season before the Olympics. I would 'use' the Island Tour then as a Olympic warm-up race, which might interest other nations to join NS cycling events. All participants of the WToC will of course be very welcome on it as well.

This being said, here is...

The Calendar

7th of June: Old Coast Circuit (Carasatoga) -hill-
9th-11th of June: Kytlerian Big Weekend Cycling Tour (Kytler Peninsulae) -hill, TT, sprint-
13th of June: D City - Crumpetson (D Land and Isles) -dirt-
15th-17th of June: Tour of Darmen (Darmen) -mountain, TT, mountain-
19th of June: Additional dirt race
21th-23th of June: Drei Schritte aus die Ebenen (Mytannion) -TT, hill, mountain-
26th-30th of June: Commune-Apox Grand Tour (Commune-PDTv2) -???-
2th of July: Additional sprint race
4th-6th of July: IOM National Tour (The IOM) -sprint, dirt, mountains-
8th of July: World Tour Championship Time Trial - Gosforth-Brent TT (Wray) -TT-
10th-12th of July: BancaRote Tour de Sangti (Sangti) -hill, mountains, sprint-
14th of July: World Tour Championship - The Lusavik Struggle (Free Swiss States) -mountains-

Warning, this is a provisional calendar, changes might be made but will always be announced in advance.

RPing

Can happen in this thread.
Because I know cycling is rather a niche sport and there is another RPdemanding WC football coming up, I've set up a system which splits the RPbonus into two. One part is the bonus you receive from the RP before said race (so if you've missed some races, it doesn't cause you to lose all other races and one RP can already lead towards significantly better results... in the next race). The second part is a bonus you receive from all your previous RPs (so consistent RPers get rewarded as well). I hope this works out well.

RPing upon the race to come as host (b.e. some additional detail upon the stage) will count as an RP, obviously.

Rules

Mainly the ones from the OOC-thread. I'll add some specifics on the youngsters championship and the points classifications in stage races.
Upon in-race rules, I'll be aiming towards the WGPC-system. If you, by example, RP about pushing another rider in the sprint, there might come up an RP from the race leader. I'll never push it towards affecting punishments (loss of RPbonus or skill, loss of points), unless such is debated with said contestant and agreed upon.

A good question is "how do I select my riders". I'll automatically presume your four first riders (in the sign-up list noted as X1., X2., X3. and X4. with X being the number of your team) will race unless you've explicitly mentioned something else in your RP. If you don't want me to miss it for sure, you might want to put it in a box or quote in your post. It goes without saying that the racers that started a stage race cannot be replaced for further stages of a stage race.

So... this leads us to the first race of the season... The Old Coast Circuit!

Edit: Wray and The Serbian Empire, please take a closer look to the question asked above.

[Free Swiss States]

Old Coast Circuit - Squad of 4
Jeremy Lasturias
James Hunt
Henry McCallister -Y-
Ewing Leholikner

It was three days before the race, and the team was busy hitting the quad-cycle. The quad-cycle was an invention by none other than team organizer Jonah Nizzy himself, and featured 4 connected cycling machines all which channeled into one large, rotating wheel. The machine was set up so that the athletes had to pump in tandem in order to obtain the most efficient results.

"This is what you need the first 100 kilometers!" Jonah Nizzy shouted at his riders. "You are one team, and you will need to stick together! No indiviual one of you can win the race in the first 100 kilometers! You stay with each, no matter the cost!"

After another half hour on the quadcycle, the athletes were exhausted. "Good!" Jonah Nizzy said, looking up from his Voyeur magazine. "Now go elevate your legs and eat blueberries! NOW!"

It was agreed by all that Jonah Nizzy's interpretation of coaching was interesting, to say the least.

[Some Village]

For those who were wondering: cut-off at 15h (GMT+1) on the 7th. That's 14h in London, 6h in Los Angeles, 9h in New York and 23h in Sydney.

Small heads-up for the first race, the Old Coast Circuit located in Carasatoga, for those too lazy to go and search it.

Name: Old Coast Circuit
Nation: Carasatoga
Type: Hills, Sprint
Starting point: Oriale University, Jackson
Finishing point: Jackson Point Park, Jackson
Amount of kilometres: 304

KM 1-84 Will be through the urban agglomerations of Jackson, Oklahoma City, Milita, Hialeah, South Beach and Bridgeport. Starting from the University in Jackson, riders will start through downtown Jackson easing onto the Old Coast Parkway. The Parkway is considered the most scenic route in the nation, lying mere meters from the beach. Riders will only leave the parkway when they reach downtown Bridgeport, the second largest city in the nation, where they will exit via the Kings Bridge and begin their journey inland.
KM 85-163 This begins the hilly portion of the race. The first dozen or so kilometers will be through the rural area surrounding Bridgeport which quickly turns into a rolling, forested countryside. The halfway point of the race is when the riders come over Septon Hill, which overlooks Queens Lake and Queenstown, the most beautiful city in the country. The riders will merge onto a highway for a couple kilometers before exiting into the downtown area, running along the lakeside. When riders reach the end of the lake they will turn onto a smaller, rural route not often used since the construction of the highways, where they will ride along the North Queens River then the Prosser River until they reach the next portion of the race- downtown Caroga.
KM 164-208 This portion start when the riders enter the Prosser Parkway, which goes along the Prosser river and through the Government District where riders will see the Capitol and other government buildings. From this historic center riders make their way north through the International District and into the Carogan suburbs. This begins the final leg.
KM 209-303 The final leg of the race runs through the hills north of Caroga, the most prominent farmland in the nation. The final eighty kilometers take rider back south towards the Old Coast along the Mighty Jackson River, the largest in the nation. Like the river, the riders will find themselves entering the city along the scenic route, and unlike last time when riders began in the upper-class University District, they will be going through the middle-class, downtown Red Rocks District, known for the quarry Jackson was founded for. When leaving the city-center, riders will make their way across the Bridge of the Republic onto Jackson Isle. The easternmost point of the island, Jackson Point Park, is the finish line of the race.
Description of last kilometre: KM 304 Is on the island and takes place along the bend of Point Parkway entering the park. Riders leave the road to enter the pathways in the park and will end the race with a straight 150 meter sprint from the west end of the Grand Stones Monument to the finish line- the entrance to the Grand Stones Monument.

Nickname of the race: Tour Carasatoga, Trail-National, Old Coast Killer (named for before the Old Coast Parkway was complete as the view was intentionally scary, when riders drove along the cliffs; only two people have actually died during the race, one from heart attack and the other from crashing, not along the cliffs.)

Organizers of the race: Cycle-Carasatoga, Old Coast Chamber of Commerce, Old Coast Cycling Federation, Caroga Chamber of Commerce, Carasatoga Beautification Association, Queens Valley Chamber of Commerce, Oriale-Jackson Joint Event Ventures Inc.

Trophy handed out: Old Coast Cup


Number of editions so far: 33, although not a well-attended international event, it is the largest domestic cycling event and has been won 21 times by a Carasatogan rider. Lucas Wyko is the most successful rider, winning 5 times in 13 races with 4 consecutive wins.

[Wray]

Wray Cycling Magazine, edition 1

Team members Brendon Kean and Wilson Hardwick riding with Team Fitness Coach Jenna Matthews outside Gosforth

Welcome to the first edition of the Wray Cycling Magazine! This online magazine will chart the progress of TeamCelta Cycling, the team entered in the 1st World Tour of Cycling, as well as Team Wray in the upcoming Olympic Games in a few months.

The World Tour kicks off tomorrow in Carastoga, for the Old Coast Circuit Race. The team arrived in Carastoga three days ago to get some riding and gym time in before the season kicks off.

The 6-man team is, in order of age: Will Maxwell (31), Cooper Kleneghan (25), Brendon Kean (24), Wilson Hardwick (23), Robert Moore (20) & Ross Parker-Langley (19). The team is captained by Brendon Kean, who has dominated the domestic cycling scene for the last 3 years.

Cyclist Profile
Name: Brendon Kirk Kean
Date of Birth: 1.3.89
Place of Birth: Cartersburg
Domestic Trophies: Championship Titles (x2), Points Leaders Titles (x3), Pink Jersey (Most Stages Award) (x2)

Brendon Kean has described the experience of riding in a World-class events as "an amazing experience [...] one that I'm sure me and the guys will take a full hold of and [...] try to make the nation proud"

And for those at home who can't travel to see a stage of the event, the World Tour Championship's Time Trial is coming to Wray. On the 8th of July, the world's top riders from every team will converge on the Northwesterly town of Gosforth for the Gosworth-Brent Time Trial. Now I here you thinking that this is a domestic race, what's it doing in a World Championships? Well, the Cycling Union of Wray (CUW.co.wr) has decided that this race, normally the penulimate race in the Domestic Circuit, should represent the country in the World Tour. Let's hope the team can give a good showing on home soil, especially one Mr. Kean is so familiar with (where he secured last year's title).

Ross Parker-Langley, the youngest rider in the team, is still studying in Albion University, but he has said to us that:

I'm totally ready for the competition. I've got all my textbooks with me, and I can use the spare days when I'm not training to swat up. [...] I'm studying Economics, looking to either go into business in Albion, or if things work out, stay in the cycling team for many season to come. I'd really like to go to the Olympics, that's my dream.

[Articles|Riders|Domestic|News|Courses|Get Involved]

[The Kytler Peninsulae]

A report from NBO SportLine, the multiverse-wide website and press release service run by the Kytlerian national broadcaster.
Big Weekend to feature in international cycling season

The Kytlerian Big Weekend Cycling Tour has been confirmed to form part of the inaugural World Tour of Cycling season, featuring races and competitors from across the multiverse.

The race will once again take place during the Armed Forces Day weekend*, with three stages in as many days - one on the northern peninsula on Saturday, one in the Eastern Corridor on Sunday, and one on the southern peninsula on Monday. It will form the first "stage race" of the season, with a one-day race in Carasatoga the first event. Subsequent races will take place in countries including Darmen, Mytannion, and Wray, with the season-ending Tour Championship race taking place in the mountains of the Free Swiss States.

Thirteen countries will be represented by teams of six riders in the Tour, though only four members of each team will compete in each race. The Kytlerians are represented by the newly-formed EastWest Energy team, led by last year's Big Weekend winner Pieter-Jan Van Der Capellen.

"The Big Weekend has become the unofficial start of the Kytlerian summer. This year, the world is invited to join the party, and we cannot wait to welcome them," stated Jules Bolling, media spokesperson for race organisers Peninsular Pedal Passion.

There has been a change to last year's route, with the finish at the top of the Endor Mountain Pass abandoned due to concerns over erosion; World Tour organisers were also understood to have expressed a preference for a flatter stage, given the large number of mountainous races later in the season. The stage will now largely take place along the south ocean coast after departing Bravin, finishing in Santa Mordana with what is expected to be a wheel-to-wheel bunch sprint for the line.

The first stage will once again follow the established route from Edencliff to Ranford via a series of loops through the Chalkland Hills, whilst the second stage will be an individual time trial from Zube to Kytler Bay City via Aardswood.

* OOC: on the Kytlerian IC calendar. Armed Forces Day is a national holiday taking place on the second Monday in May, created to replace the May Day holiday by the conservative national government. One left-leaning state refuses to celebrate the day, and state employees take the day off on May 1 just like before.

--------

From the irreverent "LifeTimes" supplement of the left-leaning, somewhat pretentious Zube Daily Times.

World Tour of Cycling preview: What's this all about, then?

Almost before we even knew it existed, it's coming here and taking over the most universally popular element of the controversial Armed Forces Day. The Kytlerian Big Weekend Cycling Tour - a three-day race across the country over the course of the weekend - will now form part of a new "World Tour of Cycling." Here's what you need to know:

* It's a competition between countries, but all the teams are sponsored anyway. So there's a Kytlerian team, with Kytlerian cyclists (six of them - but only four per race), competing not under the green, blue, and yellow of the national flag but the black and yellow of EastWest Energy. Yup, on this world stage we're basically going to be represented by high-speed radioactivity warnings. Why did we even bother? It's international sport, Cafundeu-style.
* It goes on for ages. Most stages will go on for literally hours. Some countries have created 300km mountain routes, which will basically be impossible to complete without doses of RP-inin that some experts consider dangerous. Fortunately, one of the Kytlerian - sorry, EastWest Energy - team is a student at the University of Zube's Margaret Institute, who do all the research into this stuff, so he'll know where to draw the line. Unfortunately, he's probably not going to be competing in many races.
* There are weird traditions, even though it's the first year. In every three-day race, the overall leader will wear a different colour jersey - though still with all their usual brands plonked all over it - and the leader of what's known as the "points classification" will wear yet another one, and these colours will change with every race. Confused yet?
* The "points leader" isn't necessarily the race leader. In fact, the two are nearly always different, at least where there's anything approaching a big hill. The "points classification" is decided by a series of sprints. These bear no resemblance to the actual race lead, which is based on the time taken to finish, usually meaning that time trials and monster mountains decide the winner. If it helps any, the time standings have a different name - the "general classification." Does that help any? Thought not.
* It's big in Mytannion. Team Mytannion - sorry, Team Kuester-Urlaubsonne (do you really think the Mytanar crowd actually care for a team with a sponsor? And they've got two!) - are amongst the most hotly-tipped teams for the season as a whole, and certainly the one most likely to strike fear into the hearts of organisers, given the fans that will follow them. Almost 1,100 days of police leave will be cancelled over the Big Weekend this year. That's up tenfold on last year, when it was a domestic-only affair. You can work out the reasoning for yourself.
* Not all cyclists are created equal. Besides the obvious truth that some are better than others, each rider has their own strength. Lumbering beasts with tree-trunk legs will produce terrifying acceleration in a sprint for the line, but all that power won't help them fight gravity on the way up. The mountain specialists are terrifyingly wiry specimens who, in normal clothing, would be mistaken for the sort of hipster that has a "cool" single-speed "fixie" and have to walk it up the hills in Bay City or Zube.
* Whisper it softly, but we might be able to win something. Unfortunately, that's probably the competition for "longest name", which is easily secured by Kytlerian - gah! EastWest Energy! - team leader Pieter-Jan Van Der Capellen. On the other hand, "VDC" (as he is known to everyone who doesn't have far too much time on their hands) is actually seen as a genuine contender. Remember that it's huge hills and time trials that separate the champs and the chumps. Jan The Man is a specialist at the latter, and he's good enough uphill to stay in the frame.
* If you think our sponsor is bad, imagine being sponsored by a tranquiliser. The only team not possessing a sponsored name is the National Cycling Squad of the Glorious Commune. Not that they're not sponsored, though. Oh, they are. Adorning their wacky green-grey jerseys are the badges of arms research company M-dAATI - and that's the innocuous one - and TranQola, described as "a soft drink similar to cola but with added tranquillisers and other such chemicals to provoke a happy state of bovine compliance." Maybe the Mytanar lot aren't so scary after all...

[The Serbian Empire]

I think I'll pass on the stage submission and leave that to some people who seem to know more of what they're doing, this time around. My sixth rider (Cier-Rubing) should be labeled "young," I think?

Thanks!

Oops, fixed! Not that used to the paperwork yet
Don't hesitate to signal further mistakes, being it by TG or through this thread.

I've been inputting the rider values and a few minor mistakes have been made.
> Serbian Empire: please check the dirt-value of Bledar Ahmedsovic. It cannot be zero, it must be at least one, which would make your total of values to high, so you'll have to control and adapt it.
> The IOM: I didn't forbid it (my mistake) but giving help in a time trial is quite... Unusual. You might want to change that.
> Kytler: it seems as if there was a small calculation mistake with Phootid Menburid. His skill total is 28 atm, not 25.
> Wray: it seems as if there was a small calculation mistake with Wilson Hardwick. His skill total is 28 atm, not 26.

I've fixed it...

[Darmen]

Team for Old Coast Circuit
S. Perry
L. Vogler
C. Davis
A. Borris

The first race of the World Tour of Cycling is just around the corner, and not far from Darmen in fact. Regional neighbor Carasatoga will be hosting the first race of the season, the Old Coast Circuit. 304 hilly kilometers and a sprint to the finish will decide the first winner of an official WTC event.

Darmen Airlines' hopes will rest on the shoulders of Lukas Vogler, the teams only sprinter. Perry, Davis and Borris, three riders normally associated with the mountains, will also be competing, with Davis being the lead out man for Vogler. Young rider Joris McKinley, who is also tabbed as a good candidate to strengthen the teams' lead out train, will not be a part of the race, instead watching from one of the team cars.

But to just about everyone on the Darmen Airlines team, this race is not on their radar, save for maybe Vogler. Most of the riders are just waiting for the Tour of Darmen, the second edition in three years of what is undoubtedly the hardest three stage mountain race in the multiverse.

[Sangti]

Iscrachi-ECS Lineup for Carsatoga Leg

11. Raposas
12. Matundan
13. Mandurugas
14. Panibugho

READY AND RUNNING
by Rommel Cahimat, El Diario Deportivo del Sangti

The team is back again - this time, it's for the long run.

The Iscrachi-Equipo Ciclismo de Sangti will return on the cycling scene once again as the riders will showcase its skills in the cycling stage. This time, two top riders from Sangtian territories, namely Alitaba from Rushmore and Pilipin Repablik from Atlantian Oceania will join the team.

ECS will retain Bon Matundan, Winnie Raposas, Jon Ilad and team director Ariel Caraan, while Genesis Raganit and Raymund Nasino will leave the team. They will be replaced by Lans Dowping Mandurugas, the PIR champion and Dato Mabukay Panibugho, the Alitaban champion. Along with the latter, Jebus Ongkingco of Gabel, Nuevo Nomadia will join as the young riders of this team.

"We are ready." Caraan said. "We will perform to expectations and we hope that we have a good showing come our home event." The BancaRote - Tour de Sangti will be the penultimate round of the World Tour of Cycling and one or two titles could be decided there.

[D Land and Isles]

WORLD TOUR OF CYCLING Preview:

Join us as we go over the teams, the races and the contenders in this article. We'll show you who to look out for and what days you CAN't miss, along with a whole lot more.

The Teams:

Out of the 13 teams racing the world tour this year, there are a bounty of story lines. Some teams are looking to assert there supremacy and some are looking to grab their share of the world stage.

D Air: D Air looks to continue its momentum into the WTOC after its 3 stage wins, 3rd overall GC and points jersey win at the Island Tour. Jack Maddux will look to continue his dominance in the dirt and tt races while up-and comers Sean Mcelroy and Gage Castellon will look to improve in the sprints and gc respectively. Jack Maddux is clearly targeting D City- Crumpston and the World TT. Look for him to have an extra boost of energy there.

The Races:

The Top 5 Moments in the WTOC:

1. der Ebenenberg, Drei Schritte aus die Ebenen; Mountain+Fans+Time Trial= Pandemonium. This 10.72 TT goes up one of the most difficult climbs in all of Mytannion. The fact that it is a tt, and that over half a million people are expected to be on the climb, is just icing on the cake. June 23rd, Ch 2, DLISN, DLISN.net


der Ebenenberg

2. Pave de Mauvais: D City-Parkeston; This 3.2km section of cobbles comes just 6.2km from the finish of this notorious race. The first one out of this section will have a clear shot at the podium. June 13th, Ch 2, DLISN, 450am, DLISN.net

3. Padomera, Stage 3, Tour de Darmen; This climb sticks out of Darmen into the fog creating an unique atmosphere. With grades well over 10% races will be shedding weight everywhere. Being the last stage, the fans won't know who won until the very last meter. June 17th, DLISN, DLISN.net

4. "The Forget", The Lusavik Struggle; This section of road is where the true contenders really come alive. Being the Championship of the WTOC will just make it that more important. July 14th, DLISN, DLISN.net

5. Old Coast Killer, Old Coast Circuit; They ride 3ft from the side of a cliff after 200km of racing. Whats not to like? June 7th, DLISN, DLISN.net

The upcoming race:
The Old Coast Circuit, Carsatoga is a hilly race featuring multiple sharp climbs. The course winds around the coast creating an unique racing scene. Sadly, for DLI fans we don't really have a shot at this one.

The winding roads of the Circuit

Predictions:
1. Winnie Raposas, Iscrachi-ECS, He's hot coming off that I-Tour stage win.
2. Wes van der Stijnen, Kuester-Urlaubsonne, he was also strong at the I-Tour
3. Hawke Small, Cycle 9, Racing in front of a home crowd, he could be the dark horse

Coverage: DLISN (TV), dlisn.net (web)

MY LINE UP FOR O.C.C.
Castellon
Oien
Van Husband
Willet

[The Serbian Empire]

Onyx Marenisko Squad for the Old Coast Circuit

Maravic
Barnes
Ahmedsovic
Radnicki

This means the dirt specialists Markstrom and Blagojevic will be sitting as reserves.

[Zwangzug]

Dictine team, I'll try to bold any substitutes from the base 4:

Nanami Watanabe
Hunter Campana
Rudy Parre-Elfori
Kanya Pan

(OOC: Blatter is a long-running RP thread, all usernames are fake.)

BeyondLinks: official Blatter account of Kerlagrad Courier Sports!

You guys are the most encouraging crowd. Okay, go Dictine.

RB @BeyondLinks remember, the most important variable here is that this is the first of 10+ races. No one has time to get killed today.

I think there are more than enough arithmeticians who follow me to get on that. Let's go, team!

RB @BeyondLinks it's not independent events, you should break things down by age, etc.

@mootopez I think you have to assume people bike as often as they do in Zwangzug for that to work but it's a thought.

RB @BeyondLinks For a given route it's an order of magnitude problem. How often do people die/how often do they bike any given street?

Now I'm glad that we didn't submit any of our actual routes for this, people'd want to be looking up the history.

@23andu no u

I'm informed that in 33 previous iterations "only two people have actually died during the race." Is this supposed to be comforting?

One substitution to date, Kanya Pan in the starting four for this race. Taking advantage of his hill skill. In theory.

But no, here we are in Jackson, Carasatoga. Dictine has a less climbing-based team than in past years; signing Watanabe was a coup.

Cyclists, of course, are impersonal entities interested only in the glory of their team. Gag me.

Hello world! It's me. Ilya Sald. Yes, I have a name. Baseball people are personable like that.

[Some Village]

Nevermind, off an hour. One more hour for the cut-off!

[Mytannion]

Wes van der Stijnen
Marko Winkel
Botolv Larsson
Preben Kvaal

After an interesting few weeks for the Kuester-Urlaubsonne cycling team, they are going to be competing in the first event of the World Tour in Carasatoga. The Old Coast Circuit is a hilly course and one which should suit the team’s leader Wes van der Stijnen right down to the ground, he is a well known ‘puncheur’, liking the rolling terrain and would have been used mostly in classics had it not been for his decision to try and round his skill set to suit a team leader’s role.

He will like this race and will be supported by Marko Winkel, Preben Kvaal and Botolv Larsson. The last of the three will be used if the race comes down to a sprint, which there has been some talk of. Larsson is a skilled rider on hilly terrain too, but has an excellent sprint finish which should allow him to come pretty close at the end – so long as it comes to that.

Preben Kvaal has been selected purely in a support role, his signing from fellow Mytanar team HydroEnergy-Shock was made late in the free agent signing period and was due to Niklas Ackermann making a late transfer to Fristatian based Team GHEK – a team purely made-up of young riders (under-23).

Kvaal is a promising youngster in his own right and could eventually be a successor to Wes van der Stijnen in the team leader role, though he does need to have less emphasis on his sprinting – which is perhaps because of him being a rider that has come across from track cycling to the road – if he can improve his time trialling and climbing, he could be the potential future face of this team.

Kuester-Urlaubsonne were very disappointed with their loss of Niklas Ackermann, a rider who was being touted as a team leader for them – with his climbing and hill riding being improved greatly because of the team’s training camps based in the Fristatian region of Fristat and Marianopolis – with some of the big climbs there meaning he had to improve, but he not only caught the eye of the Kuester-Urlaubsonne hierarchy but also the recently formed Team GHEK who instantly got on the phone and brought him into their team.

One signing that had been confirmed for Team GHEK was that of another Kuester-Urlaubsonne rider, the hilarious young Milan Grpek – who was renowned as a fun prankster by his former team mates – had told his former team way in advance of the signing period that he would be off. The 22-year old sprinter (who was used mainly as a classics rider by Kuester-Urlaubsonne), also joined the specialist under-23 team in order to gain more experience and to get training perhaps more suited to him – something which he had bemoaned the lack of at Kuester-Urlaubsonne a few times, even though they are known as one of the best outfits when it comes to training within Mytannion.

After all that, we may as well look at the race that lies ahead of van der Stijnen and company. The 304 kilometre race is one of the longest the riders of any team will face in this whole season and it is certainly a punishing start to the campaign with riders facing some very hilly terrain between the start at Oriale University in Jackson and the eventual finish across town in Jackson Point Park.

The first 84 kilometres are perhaps the easiest of the race, as the peloton will travel through various urbanised areas on flat roads with very few hills. There won’t really be many breakaways from the main group here, other than on the very technical bits – but even that is unlikely. It is however as the race approaches the 85th kilometre – when the hills start to hit and the favourites may face some attacks that ask a lot of questions.

Septon Hill will test all the main contenders and could lead to splits along the road as the legbreaking climb kicks in and causes the riders to really dig deep. It isn’t the longest climb, but it is steep and there is no gentle slope leading to it as it hits quickly and the steep ramps come thick and fast to cause the riders problems. Septon is the most likely place for a breakaway to be able to get away from the main peloton – but it is only halfway through the race and staying away from the main bunch could be a big problem. It is likely the main contenders for the win will try and wait until a little later on if they want to attack.

The hills north of Caroga will hurt too and could provide the perfect place for riders to try and get away at a more opportune time as this hilly region lasts for a while and will test the legs of those that are still in with a shot of the win.

This part of the race will take the riders through the more working class area of Jackson and it is likely that there will be a fair few fans out lining the streets to watch the riders coming back in, onto the island that they started on, Jackson Isle, and the final kilometre isn’t even on proper roads but instead paths – so the terrain could be a little rougher than usual – but it is flat enough and if any sprinters have lasted to this stage it will be a battle between them for the victory in the final 150 metre straight to the end.

This sort of race will suit Wes van der Stijnen – with his ability on hills being undoubted – his win in the Island Tour on the hilly Stage 3 springing to mind as a recent example of his successes on the terrain he likes the most. When he’s being supported by Marko Winkel he has every chance of being able to go to the end and get the win. He’ll just need to make sure he can stay with the main contenders over Septon Hill and also through the hilly regions around Caroga.

Marko Winkel will have no ambition of going to end to win on his own, he’s been selected in a pure domestique role, but he could strike out alone if a breakaway presents itself to him. It’s not something he’s renowned for but directeur sportif Trifon Baryshnikov is known for springing surprises on his team in terms of tactics – and especially everybody else.

Botolv Larsson is the team’s man if the race comes down to a sprint, with his ability in that particular area being well noted. He’s a bit of a ‘puncheur’ himself, but he’s better at sprinting than most that are given that tag. Kvaal will be expected to help him on the flatter stretches of the course – getting him up to the front et cetera – but Kvaal is also going to be a helping hand for van der Stijnen in winning the race overall and will probably be used as a rider that can push it on the front in order to tire the other contenders and also to try and catch any breakaways that move away from the main group.

It’ll be an interesting start to the season but is being talked up as a race which the Kuester-Urlaubsonne team can not only get their race legs back in, but also perhaps win. It’s not a position they’re used to as they haven’t been expected to win before – but they’re now spoken of as one of the best teams in world cycling and many fear them. This puts them in a position to be targeted, with their riders perhaps being forced to do the work in breakaways (for example if van der Stijnen finds himself in a group with fellow race win contenders), it is hoped they can give the opposition something to fear and win this race.

[Some Village]

The one and only actual razorsharp cut-off for the Old Coast Circuit!

Participating teams and riders

National Cycling Squad of the Glorious Commune Info
Team Director: Delta Sigismund
1. Lhutz Vjgarb (TGC)
2. Genghis Szukk (TGC)
3. Rex Xebhandrasohn (TGC)
4. Bolo Knaps (TGC) -Y-

Iscrachi-ECS Info
Team Director: Ariel Caraan
11. Winnie Raposas (SGT)
12. Bon Matundan (SGT)
13. Lans Dowping Mandurugas (PIR)
14. Dato Mabukay Panibugho (ATB) -Y-

Kuester-Urlaubsonne Info
Team Director: Trifon Baryshnikov
21. Wes Van der Stijnen (MYT)
22. Marko Winkel (MYT)
25. Botolv Larsson (MYT) -Y-
26. Preben Kvaal (MYT) -Y-

D Air Pro Cycling Info
Team Director: Ian Van Voloztky
32. Gage Castellon (DLI)
34. Daniel Oien (DLI)
35. Jeremy Van Husband (DLI)
36. Jack Willet (DLI) -Y-

Darmen Airlines Info
Team Director: Fyfe Admiraal
41. Scott Perry (DAR)
42. Lukas Vogler (DAR)
44. Chad Davis (DAR)
45. Adam Borris (DAR)

Dictine Info
Team Director: Terence Blair-Mikkelson
51. Nanami Watanabe (ZWZ)
52. Hunter Campana (ZWZ)
54. Rudy Parre-Elfori (ZWZ)
55. Kanya Pan (ZWZ)

Cycle 9 Info
Team Director: Darlis McCarthy
61. Stephen Perkins (CAR)
62. Dustin Conrad (CAR) -Y-
63. Jackson Church (CAR)
64. Benjamin Oswise (CAR)

Onyx Marenisko Info
Team Director: Marika Vlasic
71. Darko Maravic (SRB)
72. Bledar Ahmedsovic (SRB) -Y-
73. Clint Barnes (PRM)
74. Tomasz Radnicki (SRB)

Praetorians Info
Team Director: Emperor Constantine
81. Emperor Constantine (IOM)
82. Maxentius Sejanus (IOM)
83. Eustachius Fink (IOM) -Y-
84. Ludwig Radolphus (IOM)

The Dairy Cows Info
Team Director: Jonah Nizzy
91. Jeremy Lasturias (FSS)
92. James Hunt (FSS)
93. Henry McCallister (FSS) -Y-
96. Ewing Leholikner (FSS)

EastWest Energy Info
Team Director: Parogam Prorim
101. Pieter-Jan Van Der Capellen (KYP)
102. Ben Croker (KYP)
103. Phootid Menburid (KYP) -Y-
104. André Piel (KYP)

CeltaDirect Info
Team Director: Adrian Cook
111. Brendon Kean (WRA)
112. Robert Moore (WRA) -Y-
113. Wilson Hardwick (WRA)
114. Ross Parker-Langley (WRA) -Y-

Team GHEK Info
Team Director: Jiri Friedrich
121. Nicklas Ackermann (MYT) -Y-
122. Jarend Guttorm (FAM) -Y-
123. Didrik Lindhjem (FAM) -Y-
124. Milan Grpek (MYT) -Y-